Bourbon Tasting

One evening, while my son, Nate, was visiting, we decided to have a bourbon tasting. I succeeded in getting Spyke to agree to prepare a blind tasting for us. It simply involved labelling two sets of shot glasses with 1 thru 5. And then pouring the same bourbon into both 1's and so on.

Spyke assembled all the shots on a tray and presented them to us on the porch where we carefully proceeded to start with - yep - number 1. And so we went through all five shots of bourbon. We did not bother to add any water to the samples, as we were told might have been a good idea after the first sip, but here are our brief notes, but remember we did not know which brands we were drinking until after we commented and rated them from one to five stars*.

#1 **** Bulleit ($29.99 750ml) - smooth, sweet; very nice after taste. We liked this one. Too bad it was our first.
#2 ** Evan Williams Single Barrel ($26.99 750 ml) - big step down from what we just tasted. Not as smooth, and had a bite that we guessed was from the alcohol.
#3 * St Augustine Bourbon ($50 750 ml) - another step down. I was really hoping that this one would stand up well, but alas, it was a mediocre bourbon, and turned out to be our least favorite of the five. If you compare the price, you wonder why anyone would bother.
#4 ** Angel's Envy ($49.99 750 ml) - not as smooth as Bulleit, but a decent bourbon. This one will appear in future tastings.
#5 *** Blanton's (~$60 750 ml) - very comparable to Bulleit, and one I usually have on my bar for making Manhattans. A bit pricey, so I may be switching to Bulleit.

FINAL RANKINGS:
BEST **** Bulleit
BETTER *** Blanton's
GOOD ** Evan Williams Single Barrel, and Angel's Envy
MEDIOCRE * St Augustine Bourbon

Feel free to share your tasting notes.

Dog Poop

Nearly every morning, I take my two dogs, Macallan and Angelina, for a short walk for up to a mile. I do it about 355 times a year and have been doing it for ten years, so it is definitely a habit. I do it more for me now than for them, even though they are very supportive.
Mac is 85 lbs of smart stubbornness while Angelina is 45 lbs of eager energy. When I step up to the door, Angie is always the first one there. Mac has to be coaxed sometimes, but he sees it as a game where he is in control for a brief period. Sometimes I hook them up on separate leashes and occasionally I place a split-leash between them. On good days when traffic is scarce, I might let them run free for a while. It's very good exercise for them. If dogs can smile, they both would wear big ones during their free runs.
When we first reach the road at the end of the driveway, Mac likes to amble over to the far side and relieve himself. This may or may not be after he tries to urge me to go East instead of West (our usual direction). They both pee a lot at first, but they always save enough to squirt on every opportunity along the roadside.
It takes seven seconds for Mac to poop.
He may go within the first couple minutes of our walk, or he might wait until we are headed back, but he almost always leaves a pile in the swale (on the road opposite the houses usually). Angie will only poop about 1 out of 10 times during our walks. I swear it was a full two years before she ever pooped while on a leash. Dogs change.
Angie takes about 12 seconds to poop.
Even though she's a much smaller dog, she creates a pile about twice as big as Mac. I wonder about why that is, but I figure that it definitely is why she takes longer.
I read an article that dogs always poop facing in the same direction. I have found this not to be the case with my dogs. They tend to poop facing the direction we were headed, or on windy days, facing into the wind. Facing the wind seems like a smart thing to do for a creature with such a heightened sense of smell.
Forgive me for dwelling on the mundane, but I just had to get this off my chest. Plus, I hadn't made a blog entry for eons, so I took a swing.
Let me point out that I enjoy these morning walks almost as much as my doggies, but there are days when I'd rather be getting on with stuff or finishing breakfast first. On those days, I plead with Spyke to lead the parade.

Ya Gotta Be Kiddin'

Although I still have some faith in the electoral process, I think it may be time to get out of my lazyboy and picket something. King Scott is one of the newly elected hoard who is trying to change our country into who-knows-what. By bypassing normal (legal) methods to strip normal people of their rights, by deregulating nefarious industries, by attempting to convert the landscape from parks to parking lots, they have aroused the attention of many of us who sit on the sidelines most of the time.

It is time to get out your sign-making kit and make your message heard. Stay tuned for a demonstration near you.

Bye American

We can all clearly see that things are not going well for the American nation right now, but if we are to extrapolate any wisdom from the lessons of history, the question is: what does the future hold for us? If Alfred McCoy is correct in some of his projections, it is not pretty.

All of these scenarios extrapolate existing trends into the future on the assumption that Americans, blinded by the arrogance of decades of historically unparalleled power, cannot or will not take steps to manage the unchecked erosion of their global position.

If America's decline is in fact on a 22-year trajectory from 2003 to 2025, then we have already frittered away most of the first decade of that decline with wars that distracted us from long-term problems and, like water tossed onto desert sands, wasted trillions of desperately needed dollars.

If only 15 years remain, the odds of frittering them all away still remain high.  Congress and the president are now in gridlock; the American system is flooded with corporate money meant to jam up the works; and there is little suggestion that any issues of significance, including our wars, our bloated national security state, our starved education system, and our antiquated energy supplies, will be addressed with sufficient seriousness to assure the sort of soft landing that might maximize our country's role and prosperity in a changing world. 

Full article: 4 Scenarios for the Coming Collapse of the American Empire

 My hope is that we can stay this dismal demise by learning from our mistakes and changing course. Sadly, I can find absolutely no evidence anywhere that anything like that will take place. The chest-beating patriotism, outlandish political circus acts we call campaigning, and perpetuated beliefs in myths all point to problems far too great to be overcome by education. 

Cultural stupidity might not be so bad, were it not self-reproducing and viral, and prone to place stupid people in charge. All of us have, at some point, looked at a boss and asked ourselves how such a numb-nuts could end up in charge of the joint. 

In my own field, the book biz, the top hucksters in sales and marketing, car salesman with degrees, are put in charge of publishing the national literature. Similarly, ex-Pentagon generals segue from killing brown babies in Iraq into university presidents and CEOs. Conversely, business leaders such as Donald Rumsfeld who fancy themselves as battlefield commanders and imagine their employees as troops to be "deployed," find themselves happily farting behind Pentagon desks. On the strength of having mistaken Sun Tzu's The Art of War as a business text, they get selected by equally delusional national leaders to make actual war on behalf of the rest of us.  

But the most widespread damage is done at more mundane operational levels of the American empire, by clones of the over promoted asshole in the corner office where you work. At least one study demonstrated that random selection for corporate promotions offset the effect significantly. Research again confirms what is common knowledge around every workplace water cooler in the country.

Full article: Amercia: Why R Your Peeps So Dum?, by Joe Bageant

'Tis the season for Peace on Earth and a Happy New Year. I just beg for someone to give me a reason to be positive about where this nation and world is headed. 

Take Two Beers and Jump

We've all had those rare moments when we are close to telling the boss to stick it, but we somehow manage to swallow our pride, dignity, or tongue and keep our slimy jobs. Steven Slater, former Jet Blue flight attendant, should capitalize on his recent sudden slide into fame by hosting a new TV show where he could celebrate dramatic exits from jobs. People would submit their dramatic exit for consideration for one of the the three spots on the show. Actor comedians from improv companies could re-enact the scenes, and the audience could vote by applause for each week's winning candidate. Winner gets the equivalent of unemployment compensation for 6 months.

Jimmy Fallon has already written the theme song: The Ballad of Steven Slater.

Sponsors who would jump at this venue include: beer, stress relievers, career enhancing education, self-employment gigs, relaxing furniture, airlines, travel services, and who knows what else.

I even have a title for this show: Burning Bridges. Because, as I've often said, "Some bridges are worth burning."

The Speech Obama Should Have Delivered

Rachel Maddow should be the US Press Secretary, or at least on staff at the White House as a speech writer, because she delivered a far better message than Pres. Obama:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/37744753#37744753

Maddow's ideas about needed adjustments to our current oil policies are dead on:

• Recognize that the oil industry (not just BP) has lied to us about the safety of its operations.
• Prevent putting America at the risk of national environmental disaster ever again.
• Moratorium on oil drilling until safety has been proven.
• Fix the regulations and the regulators.
• Make oil companies prove that they can deal with all the possible risks before they are allowed to drill on our coasts.
• Direct BP to fund boom and skim clean-up training and mobilize every resource to clean-up.
• Get America off oil dependency:
• Senate to pass Energy Bill.
• Targets for renewable energy and alternative sources to be doubled or tripled.
• Some other details from David Sandalow's "Freedom from Oil"
• If you agree that "The Oil Age is Over", tell your Senator.

For over 30 years, Presidents and environmentalists have been pleading for the US to stop its addiction to oil. But that hasn't happened, Why? Because America tops the list in oil consumption (almost three times that of #2, China), and the US military is the largest consumer of oil in the world to keep its Hummers rolling, its ships afloat, and its jets flying. Our US Air Force uses 2.5 billion gallons of fuel each year and that number is rising each year. Except for nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers, almost all military vehicles and craft (including those joining the forces in the next ten years) operate on petroleum-based fuels.

Our dependence on oil might be easier to break if we were to fully burden the price of gasoline with the true cost of oil. The price of $75 for a 50-gallon barrel of oil needs to be factored in with the cost of protecting our oil imports, government subsidies to lease land to oil companies at deeply discounted rates, the costs of pollution (the BIG one today), and the overall effect on our global climate. For now, let's just ignore the cost of all the lives lost directly and indirectly to our oil addiction. Experts estimate that if our price at the pump were burdened with all the true costs, that it would be closer to $5 to $8 per gallon. 


A fill-up for $150 makes that electric car sound pretty reasonable now, huh? 

Berry Pickin'

This morning after walking  Mac and Angie, Spyke and I left the house at 8:00 am and drove up the road a couple miles to pick blueberries at Southland Farm just south of Earleton proper. 

They give you one big bucket with a handle and another little "picker" bucket on a cord that goes around your neck so you can pick with both hands (for those who are that talented). Then you head off into the rows of blueberry bushes, most of which are about 8 feet tall and select your spot to begin. Sharon likes to head for the back rows with some fantastic notion that the "really big ones" are back there. I like to pick one of the first rows available to see if they've been picked yet and use those valuable few seconds it takes to walk to the back to start picking. 

The blueberries were abundant and delicious. It took us just four bushes picking only on one side to gather 5 lbs each in less than an hour. We came home with a little over 10 lbs of blueberries for $26. In spite of it being very warm, there was a nice breeze and the sun was still low enough that it didn't start getting too bad until we were leaving. Glad to have it done now and sitting inside good ole US AC. 

On one bush, I discovered a bird nest with some hungy youngin's in it. I was tempted to drop a juicy berry in one of the chicks' gaping mouths, but I resisted. 

Pull My Finger

The 2010 Hurricane Season started on June 1, and the forecast for this year sounds bad. Predictions are calling for 14-23 named storms, with 8-14 hurricanes, 7 going onto land, and 3 to 7 of those to be "major" hurricanes (category 3 or higher - winds of at least 111 mph). So, even after admitting the inaccuracies in the predictions, there is still a good chance that we'll run through most of the allotted storm names before the season ends on November 30th.

Hurricane Names for 2010:

Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Gaston, Hermine, Igor, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Matthew, Nicole, Otto, Paula. Richard, Shary, Tomas, Virginie, Walter

For those of you who have been following along, Alex was also the name of the first hurricane of 2004. While Alex's eye did not make landfall, the storm was close enough to the eastern coast to wreak a lot of damage. And then Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, and Earl were also hurricanes in 1998, although Earl has already made five appearances (1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2004), so he has really worn out his welcome

We can only hope that when the storms do come that they don't pick on the unprepared and that they just dump some rain where it's needed. Then, when the Jamboree rolls around at the end of November, we'll have something to celebrate and give thanks for.

This Non Sequitur cartoon on Monday made me chuckle. Maybe it will give us something to laugh about when we are cowering in our closet:

Sit Down a Spell

My mission yesterday was to finish an idea I've had for a few years: to build a bench beside our firepit. I wanted to use rustic wood and not finished lumber, so my project started at Tom's Cypress, a cypress lumberyard in Waldo. I selected a couple choice planks,  couple stump/knee pieces, and two limbs (that I ended up not using at all) for $172, and hauled them home in my pickup.

The lumber sat for two days before I could arrange some time to devote to the task, plus I was rolling over my approach in my mind and making sketches to be sure I didn't screw up. I did not want to have to buy more stock. Then on Wednesday, I gathered my material and tools to see what else I needed.

I thought I needed a couple large flat-headed lag screws, but a trip to the Melrose Ace Hardware showed me that there was no such thing. All the big lag screws had hex heads. So, I came up with an alternate plan using nails, glue, and screws that I had on hand and moved on to laying out the bench.

After positioning the pieces and deciding on a plan, I fired up the chainsaw for some cuts to the supporting posts. This went a lot better than I had imagined, so I was feeling pretty cocky as I began the assembly phase. I placed some Gorilla glue on the top of the bench supports and drove two large nails into each support. Then I mounted the back to the supporting posts with four screws. This step took a while because three of the screws broke in the process. Predrilling holes for the screws probably would have been a good idea, but I lacked a bit long enough to do that, so I blundered on.

After assembly, the angle of the back and the levelness of the bench were acceptable, so I was relieved and proud that it had happened without a major failure.

Spyke and I tried it out for a few minutes and then I recruited her to help me finish it. First we stained the bench and back, and then we let it dry for 4 hours. The stain really brought out the red color in the grain and made a big difference in the appearance.

As soon as the stain dried, we applied one coat of clear satin  polyurethane sealer to help the bench withstand the abuses of sun and weather. It is now ready for prime time. The only thing it needs now is some friends to sit on it and a flickering campfire in front of it while we watch the the lake at sunset.

So come on over and sit a spell.

I Love Squirrels

My recent acquisition of the Squirrelinator, an air rifle that can deliver a pellet about the size of a peppercorn to a precision target 30 yards away at speeds up to 1000 fps has caused some of you to call me a squirrel hater. I just want to set the record straight.

The grey squirrels that live in our area are cute little critters with grey-brown fur, long beautiful tails, and a personality that seems at times adventurous, playful, brave, and pesky. To say that they're cute understates the image of one of these small animals perched in a standing position, large black eyes wide open, nibbling on a seed held in their human-like hands while occasionally flicking that huge bushy tail. There is something artful about the rhythmic ripple that their body and tail make when they hop about.

We've all seen the videos of their cunning (Mission Impossible), flying skills (Squirrel Launcher, Squirrel Catapult), or even their water sports (Twiggy, The Water Skiiing Squirrel). But the fact is: squirrels are notorious thieves. They are so clever at thwarting obstacles, that an entire industry exists to provide ingenious squirrel baffles for birdfeeders. Last year, nearly the entire crop of figs from our single fig tree were eaten by squirrels just a couple days before each fruit was ripe enough to pick (I guess they like 'em a little tart).

My father was a successful hunter and trapper of many types of animals in southwestern Iowa, so I'll confess, I have eaten squirrel, and may do so again some day, but their meat is not particularly tasty; it resembles rabbit except it is a little tougher, and there isn't a whole lot of it to begin with. Kind of like quail - it takes many to make a family meal.

In our neighborhood, there many berry bushes, oak, magnolia, and fruit trees, so the squirrel's plate is quite full. Perfect place to raise a family - and so many do. Many, many do! But there are also foxes, owls, hawks, snakes, coyotes, and who knows what critters, who all love to dine on squirrels. I'm happy to provide them with a little assistance.

I do love squirrels and hope they enjoy their spot in Nature's grand scheme. I just love Spyke's Habitat Fig Preserves much, much more.

The Squirrelinator

Yesterday, I bought a solution to my problem of stolen figs:

My new Remington Genesis 1000x .177 cal air rifle with Crosman 3-9 x 40 scope will be providing fresh-killed squirrels to the local wildlife for a while. It weighs 7.8 lbs and spits out pellets at almost 1000 fps with the pointed lead Crosman pellets I'm using.

It took me about 10 shots to get the scope zeroed in - it was way out of whack when I first mounted it. I had to turn the vertical 3 complete rounds and the horizontal 2 complete rounds to get it close enough to fine tune. Once I did that, I took a couple shots at my rubber target and got it on second try. Then I packed it up and put it away to await an opportunity.

About two hours later a squirrel ventured out into the open in our back yard. I loaded the rifle and took two extra pellets, in case I got an extra opportunity. I crept out the side door, but the squirrel had scampered away. I wandered around a bit and then saw him at the base of a tree about 30 yards away. I took aim and POP - got him on the first shot!

I really wanted to get a rifle with a wood stock only because I liked the look better, but they were typically about 2-3 lbs heavier. The gun guy at the Gander Mountain store was only slightly helpful and said that a few of his customers had said they were quite happy with the Remington Genesis. In reading reviews, a couple gun critics said that the Gamo Shadow is a more accurate rifle (not sure which model they were talking about), so if you are looking for something similar, you might consider comparing these two. Based on some magazine ads that I'd seen in the past couple months during my initial search, I paid about $100 more than I had expected to get the rifle and a few accessories, but that first kill was so satisfying that it was worth every penny. And, this is a rifle that will provide me many years of service with proper maintenance, so the 250 bucks are now just a passing memory. A small price to pay for decent fig crops in the future. If all goes well, you can expect to taste some of Spyke's Habitat Fig Preserves at the Jamboree.

It's What I've Been Saying for Over 20 Years

When I worked at TSI (later called Mercator) back in the 90's, there was a young man there, Eric, who was a big fan of the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence) project. At that time there was a free application (called SETI@home) that you could download to your PC, and it would only run in the background when your computer was doing nothing else. Its purpose was to help sift through massive amounts of the data collected by radio receivers at SETI to sort an intelligent signal from static noise. Eric was encouraging everyone to download the program to add more PCs to the effort to find intelligent life out there in the universe. I refused.

I explained to Eric that while the concept of cloud computing appeals to me, the thought of making an alien race aware of our existence does not. In fact, it scares me to death. "If there are aliens out there, making them aware of us would only add us to their menu."

And now the genius Stephen Hawking has finally come around to see the value of my reasoning. In a recent article, Hawking warns of the dangers in contacting aliens.

I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive. Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains. - Stephen Hawking

What he didn't say is that any alien who is reaching out to find other aliens (like earthlings, for instance) would likely not be doing it to finish their college doctoral thesis. Although the desire to satisfy curiosity drives much of the knowledge that we have gained over our brief history, the true motivators to get someone to travel for long periods through space would be far more visceral. Chief among these reasons would be the need to satisfy hunger. Any planet that had limited resources would be looking elsewhere for replenishment. Finding aliens willing to communicate and discuss exactly what resources existed on their planet would simply be phase one of a plan to come and plunder us.

And let's not rule out the age old plot in many science fiction movies where the aliens come to make us slaves, or worse - food! Consider our own record in that regard (Columbus' discovery of America, or Cortez's discovery of the Aztecs, or any number of examples through history), and you can see that even creatures with our lofty ideals can wreak devasting havoc upon the unsuspecting "aliens".

President Obama's announcement to go to Mars has its good side. We will inevitably develop new technology and devise new methods that will have their applications outside of the space module. Going to a new environment helps to lose the tired old approaches to overcoming obstacles. Nothing like floating around a tin can thousands of miles into empty space to provide you with a new perspective to solving problems.

So, I agree with Mr Hawking: go ahead and look for signs of intelligent life outside of earth, but do not speak to them, and especially do not let them know that we have so much water on the planet that we do things like pollute and defecate in it or make Coors Light beer out of it. And absolutely don't let them know we have wet-t-shirt contests or they'll be sure to come to conquer us.

Hang 'Em High

The Federal watchdogs saw all the misleading activity and illegal behavior and yet did nothing to bring those responsible to justice. Instead, they all got on board a giant cash giveaway to keep these miscreants in power - USING OUR MONEY! 


I'll admit that I supported the bailout program. All the experts were saying that we needed to do this to avoid a huge and catastrophic global economic collapse. Now these experts' opinions are becoming suspect in light of what they knew at the time. 

Here’s how Repo 105 worked in simple terms: At the end of each quarter, to reduce its all-important leverage levels, Lehman would “sell” assets (typically highly liquid government securities) to another firm in exchange for cash, which it would use to pay down its debt. The assets were typically worth 105 percent of the cash Lehman received. Several days later, after reporting its earnings, it would buy the assets back. Normally, this would be considered a loan, or repurchase agreement, but instead it was booked as a sale.

Huge piles of cash were moving in and out. According to the examiner’s report, “Lehman reduced its net balance sheet at quarter-end through its Repo 105 practice by approximately $38.6 billion in fourth quarter 2007, $49.1 billion in first quarter 2008, and $50.38 billion in second quarter 2008.”

Before this, Harry Markolos was waving large red flags about Bernie Madoff's creative accounting for over 8 years, but no one would listen - explained in his recent book titled, ironically enough: NO ONE WOULD LISTEN.  


Our SEC and Federal regulators are not doing their jobs. Your money is not protected, and if you are not one of the big fat cats stealing citizens' money, then you are probably one of the poor citizens suffering from the fallout of this fiasco. It's really difficult for me to put into words how disgusted I am with this whole scene. If our capitalist system is to work, there is no such thing as a company that is too big to fail. And certainly there should be no one above the law. 

The Healthcare Problem Solved

I've said this before, many times, and I'll say it once more: the key to the problem of healthcare is that our current American system of healthcare is profit-based and it should be HEALTH-based.

Drug companies make money by providing chemicals that alleviate or cure disease. The cynic within me says that they are more focused on alleviating symptoms than finding cures, because the profit is higher for treating a symptom than it is for curing a disease. After all, some diseases can last for years before you croak. But that is not likely the case, so I'm comfortable with thinking that they are diligently researching the cure side of disease. Still, a drug company who comes up with a new cure (or relief) can pretty much set the price for that magic pill.

The concept of hospitals is a bit ironic to me. If someone were to suggest today that we gather all the sick people into a single building, you might hesitate to think that is a good idea. But that is the system we have, and there are some benefits at having all that expensive equipment and highly trained medical specialists in one spot to deal with our myriad maladies. But let's assume that hospitals are a good idea and look at a different aspect. Hospitals make money when you are ill. If you are healthy, you never enter their doors. In fact, some surgeries are "optional" and are "sold" to patients who might be better served by not having them performed. One example is installing stents for heart patients (a case I'm too familiar with). Turns out that the chances of surviving a heart attack are improved very little by the installation of a stent. What's worse, some patients suffer damage from the operation itself, even though it is considered a very minor surgery.

Medical specialists also have a vested interest in applying their expertise in resolving disease rather than keeping a patient healthy. A cardiologist will get paid several thousands of dollars if you get a bypass surgery, while he will get paid nothing if you watch your diet, keep your stress levels low, and exercise wisely enough to keep your arteries flowing like they should.

Cancer is a big killer, now that we've sucessfully tackled some of the other older threats. Researchers are working around the world on curing and preventing this wide category of disease. But some of what we know is that cancer results from ingesting and inhaling oddball chemicals - chemicals that occur in our industrial nation and in our highly processed foods. Why are natural foods so much more expensive (and hard to obtain) than chemical-laden snack foods?

Obesity is a peculiarly American health problem. If weight loss wasn't such a huge industry, do you think we would be seeing more or less fat people? When I watch commercial television (something I try to avoid as much as possible), I notice how many commercials are focused on junk food and weight loss. I am not blind to the connection.

If someone asked you to bet a large amount of money that you would get ill before they thought you would, you might think they were slightly crazy. But that is exactly the concept of health insurance. You "bet" that your expenses for medical care will exceed your payments at some point in your life. How about a bet that I can remain healthier by making wise life-style choices? I would be willing to put some money on that one - and do every day.

If doctors, hospitals, HMOs, and medical insurance companies were rewarded for us being healthier, the problems would almost disappear. To reward higher profits to the medical industry and health insurance companies for our illnesses is a sure way to bury us all poor.

Today's News

Reading the paper each morning keeps me amused and informed. I'm not sure which it does better, but I'm leaning toward entertained. Today's Gainesville Sun was just chock full of interesting things to kick around the bar stool. Here's a quick tour of the highlights:

SNOWMAGGEDON

The blizzard that socked most of the East Coast inside last week and again this week continues to get top billing. Most newspapers want to point out that: "Hey! We were able to get to work and publish this damned paper, and deliver it to your frozen ass. What about that, huh?"

STUDY: ENERGY DRINKS, LIQUOR ARE A BAD MIX

As most any college student can tell you, adding caffeine to your buzz will only make you feel less tired, not less buzzed.

CAN YOU BE BORED TO DEATH?

Turns out that, sure enough, being bored CAN kill you! Who knew?

OLD HENGE

An article about a playground in London designed for geezers.

PHIL HARRIS DIED

You know, the rough-spoken Captain of the Cornelia Marie crab boat, who chain-smoked through the whole episode? Died of a massive stroke at the age of 53. I liked him.

EARTHQUAKE RATTLES ILLINOIS

A window-shaker in Illinois gets very little press. Of course, being a 3.8 and occurring at 4:00 am helped everyone to sleep through it without much incident.

FINALLY

Someone posted a link for me to this parody video that amused me greatly. Lady Gaga's original song, Bad Romance, is one that I'll admit I kinda like. Her vocals are decent, and her imaginative fashion and set designs are off the chart. It all appeals to me because she also has a great sense of humor. Anyway, this parody: Shit My Pants by Sherry Vine is very well done - toilet tranny humor at its finest.

GIVE NOW

My recent fundraising campaign with Partners In Health is up and running, and I appreciate all of you who have already given donations through this special website. This disaster in Haiti is many times worse than the post-Katrina disaster in New Orleans for a number of reasons, but the bottom line is that it will take thousands of volunteers, medical staff, and troops, and thousands of tons of food and water, and tons of money to keep more people from dying and getting Haiti back to its previous state, which was one of the poorest countries to begin with.

Giving to charities is a noble gesture, but there are so many charities. How do you choose where to send your gift? There are a couple websites that do a great job of sorting this information:

• Charity Navigator
• American Institute of Philanthropy

Some of the top charities listed on Google for providing relief to Haiti for this particular disaster are listed here along with their Charity Navigator rating, a numerical value based on the organization's effectiveness:

• UNK - Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (unrated so far)
• 61.55 - UNICEF (1-800-4UNICEF)
• 62.39 - Direct Relief
• UNK - Yele Haiti
• 66.98 - Partners in Health
• 54.62 - Red Cross
• 64.45 - World Food Program
• 58.95 - Mercy Corps (1-888-256-1900)
• 64.17 - Save the Children
• 58.53 - Lambi Fund
• 61.23 - Doctors Without Borders
• 63.98 - The International Rescue Committee
• 62.53 - Care
• 66.97 - William J. Clinton Foundation
• UNK - Meds & Food For Kids
• 69.19 - Feed the Children
• 60.78 - Habitat for Humanity
• UNK - Mayor's Fund for NYC

I noticed that only two of these top organizations (William J Clinton Foundation and Feed the Children) have ratings higher than Partners In Health. Regardless of which organization you pick to receive your gift, please, give soon, and be as generous as you can afford. Every donation helps, even if it is only $10 or $20.

Khoomei - ooh-aahhh-eee-ooo-uuuu-iiii

Ok, I do make fun of the Mongolian art of throat singing, but I will readily admit that I am amazed and envious of this weird, fantastic skill. Unlike, say yodeling, throat singing is not something that just anyone can learn to do with a little practice. It is an incredible talent that only a very few out of hundreds can physically accomplish. After the initial giggles over its unusualness subside, I find this stuff absolutely beautful. Here are a few of the best samples I could find on YouTube this morning.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxK4pQgVvfg
  (Huun Hurr at Philly Folk Festival, 2006)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyyhHFKI8E
  (Kongar ol Ondar on David Letterman, 2007)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1pcEtHI_w
  (Tuvan Throat Singing, 2006)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYqrWRiS204
  (Siberian throat singing, 2008)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2DxJMuftBI
  (Huun Huur Tu, Berkely, 2001)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M3YFK3sJ54
  (Mongolian Khoomei, 2007)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wHbIWH_NGc
  (Lesson on the morin khuur, 2006)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeWK_4LgKUg
  (This guy has to moisten his throat first, 2006

Kinda shows you what kinds of talent you can develop while living alone out on the desolate wintry tundra of the Asian steppes.

Oh, and just two more, in case you think it is only old men who do this:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fOlyrQ2z1w
  (Kyzyl 1995)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVZLGXFYIYQ
  (Natascha Nikeprelevic, 2008)

But the best sample is Ondar's rap video: http://www.ondar.com/ (scroll down a bit)

How to Build a Canoe the Old Way

As someone who really likes canoes, and who loves the beauty of wood, and who appreciates the skills it takes to build anything, I found this to be the most fascinating video I've seen in quite a while. It follows a native American (well, Canadian actually, but you get the idea) as he cuts down a birch tree to make a birch bark canoe. There is no narration and just a few subtitles to announce the various stages of construction, but the film lets you easily follow each step. I could not stop watching this quiet drama unfold. While his kids play with the dog and pretend to battle each other with wooden swords, Cesar uses no power tools or written instructions while he creates and assembles his canoe - only an axe, a hammer, a hand drill, a hand saw, and a few knives. He says very few words during the whole process, but works steadily as though it is the hundredth such canoe he has made. The video is an hour long, but worth every minute as the vessel took shape before my unbelieving eyes. Take the time to watch this, and let me know what you think.

How to Build a Canoe the Old Way

What Would You Do With $1.4M?

So, President Obama received the Nobel Prize for Peace which includes a cash prize of approximately $1.4 million. Arguments aside about whether he should have received it or not, the fact remains that the Nobel Committee chose him to receive this honor and the associated purse. True, this is not the kind of money to reshape today's world, but perhaps it could be leveraged to reshape a part of the world.

My question is this: What should President Obama do with the $1.4 million?

Should he spend it to do the most good toward promoting peace? Or should he use it for some other purpose? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Mortality By 3's

Deaths of famous people supposedly come in threes. My question is always: When do you stop counting? I mean, if you always reset the counter when it reaches 3, then, of course it does!

Anyway, Eunice Shriver, Les Paul, and Andy Kessler managed to check out within a few days of each other this week. So I've been trying to gain some lesson from that convergent coincidence.

In her long life, Eunice Shriver did some great things besides being JFK's younger sister and Arnold Schwarzenegger's mother-in-law. Most notably: as someone who controlled a great deal of wealth, she advocated charities that fought children's disabilities and promoted children's health, and was a key founder of the Special Olympics.

Les Paul, born Lester William Polsfuss (good Lord! no wonder he changed his name) is credited with almost all the important innovations that made Rock 'n Roll and modern music what it is today. His creative tinkering combined with his musical talent to achieve great accomplishments. Some of his guitars are valued at over a million dollars apiece because of their historical significance in the world of music.

Andy Kessler was famous for his feats on a skateboard. He not only was a master of the board, but also instrumental in building several skate parks in New York and Long Island.

Eunice was 88, Les was 94, and Andy was 48 at the time of their deaths. The deaths of Eunice and Les did not come all that unexpectedly given that they were both fighting some afflictions, and were considered "elderly". Andy's demise, however, came suddenly in the form of a heart attack that occurred as the result of a wasp sting. Murder by insect, so to speak.

As we all will eventually pass into whatever awaits us after this life, I wonder what is in store for us. Is it better to live to a nearly feeble state or to check out suddenly and unexpectedly at the hands of some quirky fatality?

My brother recently wrote to me: "Wouldn't it be wild if the Afterlife was a place where you had to live out all the scenarios presented in jokes on the internet?" He added, "I think I'd want to be either a priest or a rabbi; at least they spend a lot of time in bars."

An afterlife is a fairy tale to me. If some part of us lives on after our body dies, then physical sensation would be meaningless. Any description of "Heaven" that involves any of the five senses sounds to me like something made up by a child. Golden lyres, pearl gates, silk robes - all things easily imagined by someone living by their senses every day, but not very important to a spiritual being.

Same thing goes for "Hell". Burning would be fairly insignificant to a spirit that cannot sense temperature. Plus, it always seemed to me that eternal damnation was a very hefty price to pay for a sin (even for murder) committed by a being who lives less than a hundred years.

My current take on the metaphysical plane and religion is that God is a concept created by man. The human mind is able to see patterns where none exist. Just as we see patterns in the clouds that represent faces or animals, so, too, do some people look at the abundant diversity of life on this planet and see some magical laboratory where it all began.

"All things have a beginning, so the Universe must also have a beginning. And that beginning was started by God."

What started God?

"He has no beginning and no end. He has always existed and always will."

Well, if that concept can apply to God, why can it not also apply to the Universe? If it applies to the Universe, then it needs no creator.

I can easily imagine early men wondering what caused the tree to fall on their uncle, or what caused the sky to rain, and so on, and as a result of thinking about these things crouched around the fire in their cave conceiving of a god that had the power to do what they could not or could not explain. As different god concepts evolved, then it became a question of which god did what.

The concept that one God is the big kahuna and god of all gods to me sounds more like the winner at the "My God Can Kick Your God's Ass" contest.

MY God is all-powerful, all-seeing, and endless. He is not only the kindest, gentlest, most generous God, but also the biggest Prick you can imagine. He has a Plan that neither you nor I can understand, so floods, hurricanes, asteroid strikes, and pestulence are aspects of this "Plan" that we just don't understand.

While I do hope that dying is the start of something interesting, I cannot justify spending much time pretending to know what it is like until I've had some taste of it. Not that I want to find out right away, mind you. There are many Happy Hours and Jamborees to attend before that.